Area businesses, citizens plan to Paint the Town Green and GoldRussellville will celebrate the beginning of a new football season and a new academic year at Arkansas Tech University with a series of community events collectively entitled Paint the Town Green and Gold Aug. 29-Sept. 2. Paint the Town Green and Gold is an effort by the ATU Connection Committee of the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce. Areas businesses have been encouraged to decorate the exterior and interior of their storefronts in supp...

Board OKs ED director descriptionMembers of the Russellville City Council's Personnel Committee approved a job description for a city economic development director during a meeting Thursday at City Hall. Commissioners had a few questions, including if the position would be called director or coordinator and if it would be under the mayor or city council. They decided to treat it like any other department head and name it economic development director who will answer to the ma...

Commission mulls assisted living facility on Marina Rd. Although they did not take any action, members of the Russellville Planning Commission agreed more assisted living facilities are needed in the community after a presentation on The Arbors facility. Representatives of The Arbors at Russellville Assisted Living Facility gave a presentation on the facility they will build on Marina Way. They said they would build an upscale 75-bed assisted II facility similar to Fox Ridge Estates and Mount Carme...

Dover Housing Authority penalties nearly all forgivenDOVER -- Meta Holman, executive director of the Clarksville and Dover Housing Authority, recently announced that $13,668 in anticipated penalties levied against the Dover facility by the IRS for failure to file and pay employee withholdings from 2011 through 2015 under the previous administration had been forgiven. Holman said she was contacted by Appeals Officer Denise Coombs who wrote, "I completed my review of your request to adjust the fai...

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BY STEVE LEAVELL
sleavell@cswnet.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Board tells builders: no pass on sidewalks Russellville's Board of Adjustment denied two requests for variances from constructing sidewalks during its regular meeting Monday at City Hall. City Planner Greg Walden explained that the staff recommended to deny both requests because the city has now put in place requirements for developers to build sidewalks during construction. Dana and Kirk Warren, owners of ABC Children's Academy, told the board members that an 8-foot sidewalk is across...

Former Dardanelle fire chief leaves behind legacyAt the end of July the Dardanelle Fire Department said goodbye to a long time mentor, friend and leader; Carl Cross retired after more than 19 years of service to the Dardanelle community. "We definitely hate to see Chief Cross leave," said Tom Berryhill, Cross' successor. "It's going to be some big shoes to fill." Cross began his career with the rural Dardanelle department in 1980, and then began service with the city of Dardanelle in 1984. U...

Dover back-to-school reports very positiveDOVER -- The Dover School board received extremely favorable back-to-school reports at its regular August monthly meeting. Elementary principal Josh Daniels reported a starting enrollment of 490 students in kindergarten through fourth grade with an additional 40 students in the building as part of the ABC pre-school program now utilizing two classrooms of the elementary building. He said despite the fifth grade being transferred to the new mid...

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BY STEVE LEAVELL
sleavell@cswnet.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Man threatens woman with a knife, fleesJose M. Magana, 33, was arrested for allegedly choking a woman and threatening her with a knife at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Aug. 23 in the area of 1300 North Greenwich Avenue. Magana appeared in felony bond hearings before District Judge Don Bourne on Wednesday inside the Pope County Detention Center and had his bond set at $5,000. According a report provided by the Russellville Police Department (RPD), officers responded in reference to an ...

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BY TRAVIS SIMPSONsimpson@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

City Corp., Tri-County discuss future water sourceOne of the items in the long-range planning for City Corporation is to begin looking for a future water source 25 years after Huckleberry Reservoir was dedicated. It's been over 20 years, so representatives of City Corporation and the Tri-County Regional Water Distribution District got together recently and met regarding collaborative efforts with regards to a future regional water source. City Corp. General Manager Steve Mallett said board me...

Diverse millennials are no voting monolithAmerica's oldest millennials -- nearing 20 when airplanes slammed into the World Trade Center -- can remember the economic prosperity of the 1990s, and when a different Clinton ran for president. The younger end of the generation -- now nearing 20 -- can't recall a time without terrorism or economic worry. Now millennials have edged out baby boomers as the largest living generation in U.S. history, and more than 75 million have come of age. Wi...

Forestry Commission provides care tipsFollowing any stormy series of days, it's important that homeowners be informed about tree care after damaging wind and rain. Trees impacted by storms should be carefully assessed to ensure the safety of residents and property, and to maintain optimal health for damaged trees. Safety First If damaged trees are entangled in overhead or downed utility lines, do not touch the limbs or lines. Treat all lines as if they were live. Alert your electr...

A&P reports financials as 'We're OK'The Russellville Advertising & Promotion Commission learned during their recent regular meeting that hotel tax collections were at $190,204 for the first six months of the year. Executive Director Christie Graham said June collections were $1,067 over budget. The only two months that collections did not exceed expected totals were April and May. April receipts were $28,206 with an expected total in the budget of $33,000. The same total was bud...

ObituariesRichard B. Berry Richard B. Berry, age 83 of Russellville, passed away on Aug 24, 2016, at the Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home. He was born on Dec. 31, 1932, in Beebe to T. J. and Albertine Smoot Berry. Richard was a member of the Methodist Church in Beebe, American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans. He was a lawyer with his own law firm at Beebe, served as City Attorney and later City Judge before retiring and moving to Russellvil...

Dover ordinances continue the move toward approvalDOVER -- Two long-pending ordinances were brought a step closer to enactment at the monthly meeting of the Dover City Council on Tuesday. The first ordinance, amending the hours and dates of firework usage in the community, was discussed with the council by local resident Timothy Smith, who objected to both the amended ordinance and the long-standing underlying version as "unnecessary regulation." He also noted that the ordinance also regulate...

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BY STEVE LEAVELL
sleavell@cswnet.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Mold moves Tech studentsArkansas Tech University students scheduled to live in Roush residence hall were moved Saturday to other university-owned housing due to "swelling and mildew found in built-in storage and windows." "Conditions created by a historically wet and humid August have caused Arkansas Tech University to take the precautionary step of relocating the students scheduled to live in that housing facility during the fall 2016 semester," a news release state...

Website to assist in state missing persons casesLITTLE ROCK -- Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, along with Rep. Bill Gossage and Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) Director Jay Winters, unveiled a website, hosted by ACIC, to assist with the more than 500 active Arkansas missing persons cases. NeverForgotten.ar.gov, which was launched today, enables the public to access information on missing persons cases with an easy-to-use searchable database. "Since I became Attorney Gene...

Action taken to halt DOE projectTwo landowner groups along the proposed $2 billion Plains and Clean Line project filed a legal complaint recently against the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Southwestern Power Administration over the use of federal eminent domain powers in Arkansas to benefit a Texas for-profit venture group. The Plains and Eastern Clean Line is an approximately 700-mile-long direct current transmission line that would deliver electricity from the Okl...